Little Medical School - Best New Product or Service of the Year - Consumer Services

Company: Little Medical School, St. Louis, MOCompany Description: Little Medical School® creates mini-medical school experiences that inspires children ages 4 to 14 to consider health care careers and to be healthy! Our mission is to inspire children to dream about careers in the health care field such as medical, nursing, pharmacy, dental, and veterinarian medicine through after school programs, summer camps, scouting events and birthday parties.Nomination Category: Product & Service Awards CategoriesNomination Sub Category: Best New Product or Service of the Year - Consumer Services

Nomination Title: Little Medical School Educational Kits

Describe for the judges the nominated product or service, including its features, functions, benefits, and performance to date (up to 525 words). Include in this section the date since the beginning of July last year on which the product or service was introduced to the marketplace:

Little Medical School® is based in St. Louis, Missouri and was founded in 2011. Dr. Mary Mason, a board-certified internist created the “mini-medical school” geared toward encouraging grade-school students to take an interest in the medical field as a career and to promote healthy lifestyles. Our mission is to inspire children to dream about careers in the health care field such as medicine, veterinarian, dental, nursing and pharmacy.Since the doors opened in 2011, the Little Medical School program has been utilized as an after-school program, day program, summer camp, birthday parties or special program in schools, hospitals, medical conferences and community organizations. In 2014 LMS Franchising was formed to franchise the model. The first franchise was awarded in May 2015 and currently we have 39 franchisees. Little Medical School is included on Entrepreneur’s Magazine 2017 List of Top New Franchises. Over 250,000 children have participated in Little Medical School using our hundreds of hours of programming.

My Little Pediatrician Kit ($49.99)is a multi-piece kit with activities like a nose- to-toes exam on the enclosed plush baby, available in two shades of skin. Youngsters who often visit the doctor can now explore the world of medicine, science, health and care taking. Included among the kit’s items are a coat, plush baby doll with a birth certificate, a mini-Finnish Baby Box for baby’s safe sleeping, a pediatric assessment form, tape measure, name tag, and a self- guided workbook with diploma and colored markers. The workbook asks doctors-to-be to place a diaper on the baby, learning about diaper rash (and how to prevent it), measuring the circumference of the baby’s head and so much more.

My Brain Hat-ter Helmet ($39.95)offers so much more than protection from head injuries. Using removable stickers, children are able to appreciate all the functions of the brain associated with each lobe by applying the stickers to the colorful, anatomically correct helmet. It makes kids see beyond the importance of wearing a bike helmet, to appreciate the complexity of the wonderful brain and why they need to protect it. With the “My Brain Matters Oath” kids pledge to take care of their amazing brain by always wearing a helmet.

Provide a brief biography of the person or persons who lead the team that developed the nominated new product or service (up to 125 words):

Mary Mason MD, MBA, FACP is the founder of Little Medical School. She has18 years of experience in the healthcare business world creating clinical programs that move the needle on patient outcomes. She is an adjunct lecturer at the Washington University John Olin School of Business and sees patients every week as a volunteer physician. She serves on several community boards. She is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honorary Society and has been named to the St. Louis Business Journal Lists of Most Influential Business Women and 40 under 40. Dr. Mason has a BS in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, and a MD and MBA from Washington University.